Duke Energy Progress offers energy and money-saving tips

Duke Energy Progress

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 22, 2014 at 2:25 PM

RALEIGH — Weeks after an historic polar blast that set all-time marks for winter power use across communities served by Duke Energy Progress, the company continues to remind customers how to save energy and money on their power bills during colder weather.

RALEIGH — Weeks after an historic polar blast that set all-time marks for winter power use across communities served by Duke Energy Progress, the company continues to remind customers how to save energy and money on their power bills during colder weather.

“January continues to deliver record cold temperatures across North Carolina,” said Paul Newton, Duke Energy state president – North Carolina. “Historically cold days mean higher energy bills. It’s important for customers to remember they can save money on their power bills through a few simple steps.”

Duke energy is also prepared to meet its customers’ energy needs, as another cold snap approaches the Carolinas this week. The extremely low temperatures will put higher stress on equipment used to generate and deliver electricity. Isolated equipment problems are possible, which could result in scattered outages.

Customers can consider the following tips to manage their winter heating costs:

Winter Energy-Savings Information

§ The thermostat is a real culprit of higher winter bills. To help save energy and money, select the lowest comfortable setting when home, and bump the thermostat down a degree or two when leaving home.

§ Have your HVAC system checked regularly by a qualified heating and air conditioning contractor to maintain efficiency and peak performance. Through the Home Energy Improvement Program, a Duke Energy Progress customer can get hundreds of dollars in rebates for choosing to make their home run more efficiently. Visit www.duke-energy.com/heip to learn more.

§ Leave drapes or blinds open to allow the sun’s rays to warm the house.

§ Inefficient heating can also add to monthly power bills during colder temperatures. One of the easiest things customers can do to support heating efficiency is to change air filters regularly. A dirty air filter makes a heating system work harder, which uses more energy.

§ Replace standard bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. CFLs are more efficient than regular bulbs, while giving off the same amount of light. Duke Energy Progress offers heavily discounted CFL and LED bulbs at www.duke-energy.com/lightdiscounts.

§ Find these and other tips at www.duke-energy.com. Just click the “save energy and money” link.

Tools to Understand Energy Use

Duke Energy customers interested in saving money on their bills are encouraged to visit www.duke-energy.com and sign up for the company’s Online Services program. Once registered, customers can complete a brief survey to create a personalized energy report, with customized recommendations for saving energy and money for their home, gain insights into how their home uses energy, and how it compares to similar homes.

Billing and Payment Options

Duke Energy Progress offers a number of billing and payment options to help customers conveniently pay their bills. As an example, the Equal Payment Plan helps customers avoid seasonal energy spikes and control their budget by averaging annual energy costs into 11 equal monthly payments with a settle-up in month 12. Free paperless billing and online payment programs are also available. For more information, visit the “billing and payment” page at www.duke-energy.com.

Energy Assistance Programs

Duke Energy Progress’ Energy Neighbor Fund provides financial assistance to local agencies to help customers with their winter heating costs. In 2013, Duke Energy Progress and its customers donated more than $715,000 in assistance across its North Carolina service areas through the Energy Neighbor Fund. A list of participating agencies by county is available on the “our community” page at www.duke-energy.com.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com.

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